Judges 21:12 (WEB)

Passage

They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

Nearby Context

Judges 21:10 The congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.

Judges 21:11 This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man.”

Judges 21:12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

Judges 21:13 The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.

Judges 21:14 Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead. There still weren’t enough for them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "found", "inhabitants", "jabesh", "gilead", "four", "hundred", "young", and "virgins". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "found" and "inhabitants", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "This is the thing that you shall..." into verse 13's "The whole congregation sent and spoke to...", so "found" and "inhabitants" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "found" and "inhabitants" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.